A brief visit to the Shrine of Saint Peregrine Laziosi

Since we always pass by his shrine in old Muntinlupa to and from our home in La Laguna Province, Saint Peregrine Laziosi became one of the many saints Yeyette prayed to during her delicate pregnancy last year. After giving birth, she promised to visit all the churches of those saints she sought help for her safe delivery. But it was only last November 14, on a late Saturday afternoon, when we were able to accompany her to the Saint Peregrine Shrine.

Santuario de San Peregrino Laziosi.

Women should wear veils inside churches even if there is no Mass.

Yeyette kept to her promise to come back here to thank Saint Peregrine Laziosi after her safe delivery from a rare pregnancy disorder called placenta percreta last year.

Peregrine Laziosi was born in 1260, the only son of an affluent anti-papal Italian family. An incident with the priest Felipe Benicio (who later became saint in 1671) changed his stand towards the papacy: when a then young Peregrine heckled and struck the elderly priest, the latter unquestionably forgave the young troublemaker. His humility getting the better of him, a remorseful Peregrine took to prayer which eventually led him to a selfless life of priesthood. He gained fame for his preaching and saintly life. Later in his life, he developed a cancerous infection in his right leg. It was decided to have his leg amputated. He took to deep prayer on the eve of the surgery; the next day, the infection totally disappeared. This is the reason why he became the patron saint of those who suffer from cancer and other incurable illnesses (and that his why his image usually shows him with his right knee covered in a cancerous sore). He was canonized on 27 December 1726.

The Saint Peregrine Shrine has a relic chapel which houses an actual rib of Saint Peregrine Laziosi. To those who don't know yet, he is also one of many Catholic saints whose remains remain miraculously preserved. His incorruptible body now rests in his home city of Forlì, Italy.

This shrine also houses something extraordinary: a relic chapel containing a rib of Saint Peregrine. From the relic chapel's dedication marker:

RELIC OF SAINT PEREGRINE LAZIOSI, OSM

(1265-1345)

In line with the desire to spread the devotion of Saint Peregrine, patron of cancer patients, the community of the Order of the Servants Mary in Forlì, Italy donated to the Filipino people a relic in the form of a rib taken from the incorruptible body of Saint Peregrine. The actual body of the Saint is enshrined in the Basilica of Saint Peregrine in Forlì, Italy.

This rib is now in custody of the Fathers of the Order of the Servants of Mary in Tunasán, Muntinlupà. It is preserved in a precious silver reliquary. On October 31, 1998 was solemn consecration of Saint Peregrine Parish and it was during this special occasion that the relic of St. Peregrine was enshrined to the Relic Chapel of the Saint. It is the only outstanding relic in all the world, excluding his body in Forlì, Italy. For this reason, we Filipinos are privileged and loved by the Lord.

San Peregrino Laziosi.

Click here for more photos of our brief thanksgiving visit!

The shrine is located in Barrio Tunasán, Muntinlupà City and is under the care of the Servite Order (Orders of the Servants of Mary). It's right along the old national road, a few meters away from SM Center Muntinlupa (they're on the same row) if you're coming from the north, and also a few walks away from the boundary of Metro Manila and La Laguna Province if you're coming from the south.

Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Up next: a day trip to Villa Escudero! ¡Hasta la vista! =)

Casa Tuâ: San Pedro Tunasán's heritage museum

Museum and Galleries Month is not just about the National Museum or the Ayala Museum. This special month also includes the recognition and promotion of smaller local museums. While bigger museums showcase the artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific history and importance of our country as a whole, local museums tend do the same but on a more local level. Such is the case of San Pedro Tunasán's Casa Tuâ, a heritage museum which also serves as the home of Dr. Welit Guevara.

 

The owner comes from one of San Pedro Tunasán's oldest families. His family's "old school" tastes have greatly influenced his passion for heritage conservation. The house itself dates back to the late 1800s. As such, he has filled his house/museum with over a hundred vintage framed photographs, paintings, and other antique items not only of his forefathers but also of people and places from all over San Pedro Tunasán and its Lagunense neighbors such as Biñán and Santa Rosa.

Dr. Guevara displays old photographs of San Pedro vistas and personalities outside his house in the hopes of attracting visitors. Admission is always free. The bulk of visitors are usually elementary students who just pass by in front of his house. In fact, the good doctor really has them in mind when he first opened up his ancestral home to the public. "Start 'em young" is his goal. To entice them some more, he gives them free candies as they tour around the house. He is hoping that his effort would at least inculcate in their young minds the importance of heritage conservation.

Mómay at the entrance to Casa Tuâ. the house's gallery of old photographs is called "Fondazione San Pedro".

The owner wants to impart his knowledge of Filipino heritage to the youth of San Pedro Tunasán. 

A pañuelo on display which was used by Dr. Guevara's grandmother.

A 1919 photograph of the Church of San Pedro Apóstol taken during the funeral of a certain Antonino Anciano. This is also where Yeyette and I got married two years ago.

The owner of the house proudly displays old letters and postcards from family members and friends. Here's one addressed to  Fr. José Ponce, a former parish priest of San Pedro Tunasán. Yes, this city used to be Spanish-speaking back in the day.

During its younger years, this house used to extend all the way to the banks of the San Isidro River which was then wide and deep.

The dining area's flooring are made of 19th century machuca tiles, the same ones used in the Church of Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados in Santa Ana de Sapa, Manila. Dr. Guevara also said that the parish church of San Pedro Tunasán used to have these tiles in the past.

The interiors of the house are filled with antique furniture.

Dr. Guevara explained to us that this antique mueble is designed with sampaguita flower carvings, emphasizing San Pedro Tunasán's rich sampaguita heritage of the past. In this photo collage, my wife points to the said design.

When asked for the meaning of "Casa Tuâ", the owner clarified that it is not the surname of anyone from San Pedro. It is in fact the old spelling of the Tagálog word for "joy" (an alternate spelling for it is "toua"; today, the word is now spelled as "tuwa"). It's because he wanted young visitors to remember nothing but happy memories after having visited his humble heritage-filled abode.

Casa Tuâ is located right below the San Isidro Bridge near the población. It is, in fact, just a few steps away from the old town church and plaza. Click here for more photos! ¡Hasta la vista! 

Celebrating our blog's second anniversary at an awesome place!

And that awesome place is right here: at home.

We had no specific place to go to, but for sure, we were supposed to go out on a road trip this afternoon. A road trip either to our beloved La Laguna or posh perhaps an out of town escapade to Baguio. There was even talk of flying to either Borácay or Amanpulo. I was actually thinking of bringing all of us to Spain.

Click here to check out more photos of our simple anniversary celebration at home.

But as fate would have it, our princesita Junífera Clarita has a fever. And the effects of Typhoon Lando are still being felt all around us. Other than that, Krystal, Mómay, Jefe, and Juanito had classes today.

So many excuses.

We'll try to do better next year. Hopefully, this would be the last time that our family travel blog's anniversary will be celebrated at home. But hey, that doesn't mean that home is not an awesome place to celebrate a travel blog's milestone. It is where the heart is, in the first place. =)

Please LIKE US on Facebook! And don't forget to vote for us at the Bloggys 2015! ¡Feliz segundo aniversario a nosotros!

La Familia Viajera is nominated to the Bloggys 2015!

La Familia Viajera is elated and very honored to have been nominated to the Philippine Blogging Awards, otherwise known as Bloggys 2015! What's this award-giving body all about?

To put it simply, #bloggys2015 is a nationwide blog awarding event in the Philippines. It continues the legacy of recognizing Filipino bloggers through a variety of niches and industries across the nation.

Paul Agabin

CEO, Essays.ph 

Looking at the list of nominees in the Travel and Places category where our blog is included, we'll be up against giants in the local travel blogging scene. Yes, our chances are slim. But we'll still go ahead for the sake of fun. After all, being nominated is already an honor. So if it's OK with you, please vote for us in the said category. To vote, please click here. Our blog URL is lafamiliaviajera2015.blogspot.com.

¡Muchas gracias de antemano!

Coffee and more at The Snuggery

If yesterday was National Coffee Day and tomorrow will be International Coffee Day, what type of coffee day is it today? Whether it's Externational Coffee Day or Coffee Day In Between, we don't care. All we know is that we wanted some coffee. But not from the usual coffeehouse around the block.

So we first went to Museo de San Pedro, only to find out that they're doing some inventory.

By the way, it's the only museum that's not a museum. Yeah, confusing. I've been there once when it was still new, when Mayor Calex Catáquiz was still the mayor. He showed me around. The place was filled with his photos. We were served some expensive coffee which tasted like an ordinary 3-in-one, and I liked it. That's why me and my family went there this afternoon. Too bad the staff weren't prepared for us. Anyway, we'll feature our brief visit there in a future blogpost. Right now, we simply wanted some weird coffee.

Good thing my wife remembered having seen a new hole in the wall coffeehouse by the main highway several weeks ago. So off we went. We were not disappointed. They served us some weird coffee. And more.

Snuggery is a British word. It means a coSy and comfortable place. Yes, I keep on emphasiSing on  the letter S. Snuggery is a British word.

Freedom wall. Post anything non-offensive.

We only tried one type of coffee. We ordered ours cold. I think mine had too much ice because it tasted almost like water. My wife probably didn't experience such travesty because she liked hers. Despite that, it was well OK. It would have been perfect without too much ice, though. Or if the mixing was right.

It looks like peanut butter on top of mayonnaise. But no. It's The Snuggery's specialty called "ice-blended Snuggery Machiatto". You've already been warned earlier — not much ice.

The food made up for whatever disappointment I had with their macchiatto.

These nachos didn't last for a full minute.

Their honey-glazed wings with potatoes have all the right spice though they were a bit bland for Yeyette.

Enjoying some chili cheese fries.

Their tomato and garlic pasta is a winner.

All items are on this board. Affordable.

Yeyette with the owners of The Snuggery. All four share duties in running their snuggly li'l coffeehouse.

The place is small, probably won't be able to fit twenty patrons. The air is heavenly because of all that cooking which customers can see (and because of lack of exhaust ventilation). And to think that they have here live acoustic performances at least once a month. They have one this coming Saturday night (October 3). Do drop by when you have time. The place is right in front of the San Pedro College of Business Administration at the old national highway.

And try their coffee hot.

Follow The Snuggery on Facebook! And don't forget to follow us, too. ¡Hasta entonces!

Our AlDub-inspired sixteenth anniversary!

My sixteenth anniversary with my wife Yeyette falls at a time when the whole country is in love — and for the first time in history, I should say! Yes, we're also smitten with the AlDub love bug! And I guess only true-blue AlDub fans will get what the picture below means.

♪ Icáo lang ang aquing mahál ♫

❤ A very happy anniversary to us! Cahit simple láng, basta't masayá at nagmamahalan, OK na camí. ❤

¡Feliz primer cumpleaños, Junífera Clarita!

¡El tiempo vuela tan rápido! Parecía como si fuera ayer cuando tu mamá casi perdiera la vida al dar a luz a tí. Pero mírate ahora: te estás convirtiendo en una chica tan hermosa como ella y tu Ate Krystal. Y somos completos, sanos, y felices, ¡gracias a Dios!

Junífera Clarita está llevando puesto su collar de perla del mar del sur que se le dio a ella por su madrina Gemma Cruz de Araneta.

Y dado que eres nuestra princesita preciosa, no te mereces nada menos. Así que decidimos celebrar tu primer año en un lugar tan especial: en el histórico Hotel Manila.

Construido en 1908, este hotel de cinco estrellas que se encuentra por la Bahía de Manila en Ermita, Manila es el más antiguo de Filipinas. Fue inaugurado en la conmemoración de la independencia estadounidense el 4 de julio de 1912 (Filipinas fue entonces colonia de EE.UU.).

Nuestra llegada.

Mómay, Jefe, y Juanito: los tres "guardaespaldas" de Junífera Clarita.

Por más de un siglo, se convirtió en testigo de varios acontecimientos históricos desde dentro y fuera de sus muros. Su ático fue la residencia del General Douglas MacArthur durante su mandato como el Asesor Militar de la Mancomunidad de Filipinas de 1935 a 1941. En 1935, Presidente Manuel Quezon contrató el arquitecto Andrés Luna de San Pedro (hijo del pintor Juan Luna) para hacerse cargo de las renovaciones del famoso hotel. Y durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el edificio fue ocupado por las tropas del Ejército Imperial Japonés, y la bandera japonesa fue volada por encima de los muros de la totalidad de la ocupación japonesa. Durante la batalla para la Liberación de Manila en 1945, los intensos combates entre las tropas estadounidenses y los japoneses sucedieron en el interior del edificio. ¡Incluso se decía que cada habitación del hotel tenía que ser tomada de los japoneses! A la larga, el hotel fue incendiado por los japoneses, pero el armazón del edificio sobrevivió a las llamas; la estructura fue reconstruida después de la guerra.

Cenamos en Café Ilang-Ilang, un restaurante dentro del hotel que lleva el nombre de una flor filipina fragante.

Muchos personajes famosos también se han registrado en este hotel: el autor pro-hispano Ernest Hemingway, el famoso actor estadounidense John Wayne, iconos de la música pop como Michael Jackson y The Beatles, y líderes mundiales como tales John F. Kennedy de EE.UU. y Primer Ministro Anthony Eden del Reino Unido.

Con suerte, por el momento de leer esto, ya estás considerada como una de las registrantes famosas del Hotel Manila. Si Dios quiere. =)

Quiero que seas una aficionada de la Historia Filipina como yo, así que celebramos tu primer cumple aquí en Hotel Manila, el más histórico hotel en Filipinas.

Sabes que cuando escribo este blogpost, nos estamos apretando el cinturón por muchas razones inevitables. Pero como dije, no te mereces nada menos. Este día celebramos tu primer año en la tierra. Y eres nuestra princesita. ¡Simplemente te queremos mucho!

En el vestíbulo del hotel. Haga clic aquí para ver más fotos de nuestra celebración sencilla.

*L*A*F*A*M*I*L*I*A*V*I*A*J*E*R*A*

Santa Clara de Asís, siempre ruegue a nuestro querido Señor por el bien de su tocaya. Gracias.